The Bureau of Foreign Employment says that around 200 Sri Lankan nationals currently employed in Liberia will be brought back due to the Ebola epidemic spreading rapidly in the African region.

Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Dilan Perera said the decision to bring them back was taken in view of the seriousness of the outbreak and the threat it poses to the lives of Sri Lankans currently residing in Liberia.

The World Health Organization has declared the West African Ebola outbreak that has killed nearly 930 people an international public-health emergency.

Minister Dilan Perera said that the Ministry has decided to suspend sending any Sri Lankans to the West Africa nation.

The epidemiology unit has taken steps to make all the health departments aware of the Ebola virus.